Speaking of offering your customers something different, the camera phone market has frustrated many in the imaging industry due to the fact most of the images captured with the devices go unseen and, more importantly, unshared. Both Kodak and Fuji have recently launched solutions for making camera phone photos more actionable that retailers might want to keep an eye on.
“Kodak Mobile Link,” powered by Exclaim’s Pictavision platform, allows users access to the Kodak Gallery at www.kodakgallery.com at the press of a handset button. On the Web site, to which Kodak tell us, 2 billion photos have been uploaded so far, users can upload, download and share mobile phone captured photos and video. This is a more streamlined uploading alternative to attaching photos to MMS messages. Users can also employ their handset to create a Kodak Gallery account if they don’t already have one. The Kodak Mobile Link software is available for download from participating wireless carriers directly to a user’s phone. Subscriptions start at $3.99 per month. The Kodak Mobile Link process eliminates the need to attach photos to e-mails, “turning your phone into a virtual photo album,” according to a Web site demo available at www.pictavision.com/pv_demo.html.
The Fuji solution involves a partnership the company has forged with Verizon Wireless and Fujifilm’s Get the Picture Online Service Network. Through this relationship, Verizon Wireless customers can now print digital camera phone and digital camera pictures directly from Verizon Wireless’ picture sharing online site, Pix Place, to any participating retail photofinisher. The Get the Picture Online Service Network contains more than 10,000 retail locations for camera phone and digital camera photo printing, including Walgreens, Longs Drugs, Ritz Camera and Sam’s Club.
Verizon Wireless customers manage and print their photos online on Pix Place at www.vzwpix.com. After uploading pictures with their camera phone or PC, Verizon Wireless customers simply select Order Prints from Pix Place and search by zip code for their nearest participating retail locations and order their prints for pick-up at one of more than 10,000 locations from coast to coast. Alternatively, customers may choose to have the pictures delivered to their homes.
“The quality of digital camera phones has dramatically increased over the past year. By partnering with wireless carriers like Verizon Wireless, we’re enabling consumers to capture, and print their memories wherever they are,” said John Prendergast, vice president, Product and System Development, Photo Imaging Division, at Fuji. “We’re also enabling our retail photofinishing customers to benefit from the increasing demand for digital camera phone prints.”
Finding solutions that tap into the billions of images and video clips that are captured via cell phone and making those memories actionable will surely be “killer apps” for retailers as we move through 2007.
